Newsletter

SAYUL, Cultural and Public Diplomacy Corps

2020 was the 10th anniversary of the first year of public diplomacy. It is also the 10th anniversary of SAYUL, so we welcomed the new year with excitement and expectation. But last year, COVID-19 forced the introduction of non-face-to-face processes into all projects. It was a devastating situation. But we have decided to embrace the flow and turn to online-optimized Corps. NAHF's support project for civic groups has laid the foundations. So we have built a platform for SAYUL's domestic and foreign members to gather and share their opinions.

Round-the-World TRIP of 'Gatekeeper of the East Sea' from 2011-12    

Global Public Diplomacy to Cultivate the Pro-Korean

SAYUL(Social value Ambassador, with Young United Leaders) is an NGO for domestic and foreign MZ generations founded in 2013. The MZ generation is a term for the millennial generation born in the early 1980s and early 2000s, and the Z generation born in the mid-1990s and early 2000s. They are the generation with the most contact with digital public diplomacy. SAYUL is affiliated with the Public-Private Cooperation Committee for expanding the description related to Korea and correcting errors. We have worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and related agencies to promote public diplomacy.

Currently, KOREA CLUB(100 people in the metropolitan area in Korea) and GLOBAL NETWORKS(100 foreign university students overseas) are recruited for the half-year period. They are working on projects related to Environment, Social, and Government based on digital public diplomacy. And we don't artificially train Pro-Korean. We are trying to make them change naturally to the Pro-Korean.

Project for the Promotion of the East Sea in 2010  

Expanding Descriptions Related to Korea on Wikipedia, with Foreign Members from Overseas

SAYUL has built a global network with MZ generations based on two-way public diplomacy that has been promoted over the past decade. And we have been trying to expand the description related to Korea, such as 'East Sea'. Public diplomacy is a prerequisite for foreigners to ask for publicity about Korea. So from 2020, we used SAYUL's network to do global projects. Foreign youths from 11 countries uploaded more than 300 information about Korea to Wikipedia in their own language. The themes include special notation from a diplomatic perspective, cultural perspectives, and various perspectives as foreigners.

The themes proposed by foreign members include Donghae, Dokdo, Kimchi, Hanok, Sujebi, Kalgu ksu, Foongsujili, Ganggangsullae, Samguksagi and Wonhyo Daesa. The important thing is that the members selected the topic. This is the most important factor in mutual development exchanges beyond the expansion of description for Korea. And we descripted the content according to the data produced by the Korean government and public institutions, and revealed the source. This is a way to increase the reliability of information. Our members are satisfied with the performance of the project. In the future, we will make more efforts to continue to operate global projects related to the expansion of description related to Korea and the correction of errors.

The kick-off ceremony of the 15th SAYUL in 2021   

MZ Generation to Practice Public Diplomacy in ESG Field

We have expanded our scope of activities by designing projects linked to global interests 'ESG' and 'SDGs(Sustainable Development Goals)'. In particular, the public diplomacy project for foreign students in Korea was approached from the perspective of SDGs' Global Citizenship Education. We have pushed for a new phase of projects for various SDGs. It is time to consider not only profits but also non-financial factors for mutual benefit when evaluating companies. It is the flow of the times to pursue and share social values ​​including ESG. Once 'Corporate Social Responsibility' was the mainstream. But We think the next dimension is the implementation of Social Value. Many nonprofit organizations, social enterprises, and institutions are already performing essential business to solve social problems in the ESG field.

In this situation, SAYUL is training SOVAC AMBASSADOR with SOVAC(Social Value Connect). We feel rewarded to see members grow into public diplomacy experts in the ESG field and learn about social values. And We believe that they will grow into leaders who lead a new paradigm in Korea and the world.

Growth and Future of SAYUL

SAYUL is still growing. But that growth is not led by a few leaders. It is thanks to the feedback, will, and advice of the members and many others who have been together. SAYUL was able to launch its first project as a Non Profit Organization with the help of NAHF. And COVID-19 was overcome with NAHF. We sincerely thank the NAHF officials for their advice, encouragement and support to SAYUL over the past decade.